


Lumière et Obscurité

by unknowableroom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-02
Updated: 2008-05-02
Packaged: 2019-01-19 15:57:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12413313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unknowableroom_archivist/pseuds/unknowableroom_archivist
Summary: Albus Dumbledore is dead, the Order has disbanded and Voldemort is on the brink of winning the war. Severus Snape, the consummate double agent, manages to help two prisoners in need, but at a terrible price that will change three lives forever.





	Lumière et Obscurité

**Author's Note:**

> Note from ChristyCorr, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Unknowable Room](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Unknowable_Room), a Harry Potter archive active from 2005-2016. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after May 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Unknowable Room collection profile](http://www.archiveofourown.org/collections/unknowableroom).

Title: Lumière et Obscurité

Rating: NC-17

Five Main Characters: Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Ginny Weasley, Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy

Pairings: many, but the main one is Severus/Remus/Ginny.

Setting: AU, beginning in the summer between Ginny's fifth and sixth year.

Genre: Darkfic! with drama, romance, angst and tragedy.

Summary: Albus Dumbledore is dead, the Order has disbanded and Voldemort is on the brink of winning the war. Severus Snape, the consummate double agent, manages to help two prisoners in need, but at a terrible price that will change three lives forever.

Prompt: livejournal community 10quotes #36 - 3 (Bridge Over River Kwai) "A word to you about escape. There is no barbed wire. No stockade. No watchtower. They are not necessary. We are an island in the jungle. Escape is impossible. You would die."

Warning: THIS IS DARK! Please be aware that this fic contains subject matter that may be controversial, offensive or upsetting to some. Warnings for: adult/minor teen pairings; non-con; Malfoy!cest; slash (male/male); character death; violence and blood. 

Author's Notes: Apologies in advance for my imperfect grasp of français. I'm learning, really I am. :)

...

**Chapter One:** **L** **a Vérité Triste**

" _I had a dream, which was not all a dream._  
The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars  
Did wander darkling in the eternal space," - from Darkness, by Lord Byron

...

"Le traître de sang," sneered Bellatrix Lestrange, her blunt voice cruel as she whispered mockingly in French. "You're a filthy blood traitor, aren't you, Mademoiselle Delacour, non? Oh, yes; Weasley, isn't it?" She cackled thinly as the blonde before her blanched, flinching away from the desolate sound of her newly acquired surname. "Et le petit loup," Bellatrix finished, amused as she cocked her head and studied Remus Lupin gleefully. "My former cousin's favourite plaything."

Steeling himself, Remus closed his eyes, wondering when the blow would come, but instead of the death curse, he was struck by Bellatrix's open hand.

"Look at me when I speak to you, werewolf," she spat, as though the word had sullied her mouth. Having recaptured Remus' attention, she smirked madly. "Miss him, do you? My dear cousin Sirius Black?"

Silent, Remus faced her. He kept his face as emotionless as possible, but he was certain she could read the hatred and fear etched there across his features. Besides, his hands were shaking.

"Answer me!"

Next to him, Fleur shuddered, frightened by the booming strength of Bellatrix's voice. Remus bowed his head. "Of course I do."

"Ha!" Her laughter echoed through the small, stone chamber. Pleased to have elicited the response, she pressed her face closer to Remus', closing the small distance between them. "Do I smell like him, hmm? Do I remind you of your precious Sirius?"

"No." The response was instantaneous, dark with revulsion.

Instead of being stung by the insult, Bellatrix looked pleased. "Good. It wouldn't be fitting for me to stink like that blood traitor, that Gryffindor." She sighed happily, smiling again. "He used to speak of you, all those years ago. He was so delighted to have been sorted into that house of bleeding hearts and fools, so pleased to have 'the best friends ever'. You should have seen the look of disgust on my aunt's face when she learned the truth about his new best mates. Oh, the Muggle lover, Potter, he was bad enough, but when she learned Sirius had befriended a half-blood Lupin, she had his inheritance cut off, and later, when the truth about you came out, when she heard her precious eldest son was in love with a werewolf!" -- Bellatrix seethed, her cruel joy dissipating to fierce anger -- "He was lucky the message came by owl post. She would have killed him, my dear aunt Walburga, had he ever dared show his traitorous face in her home again."

Smirking up at Remus' pale face, Bellatrix shook her head. "It's true, then, isn't it?"

"What?"

"Don't play stupid with me, werewolf!" A blast of orange sparks burst from her wand and fell, stinging, to Remus' arm, where they burned small holes in the ragged fabric of his coat. "You and he...there was an intimacy between you, wasn't there?"

Remus' insides felt like ice as he thought of the brief relationship with Sirius, which had bloomed shortly into their sixth year at Hogwarts, only to end abruptly after the deaths of James and Lily, and had then resumed a few months after Sirius' desperate escape from Azkaban, lasting only until Sirius' death in the Ministry. The time had been so short it hardly seemed fair to call it a relationship; there had been stops and starts, and their's had been a relationship plagued with lies and interruptions, presumed betrayals and long, cold silences. Grimly, he nodded.

"Disgusting," retorted Bellatrix, though her manic eyes gleamed. "Though it's all in the past now, isn't it, Lupin?" She spoke his name with peculiar relish, as though testing the power behind it. "He would have thanked me for killing him, if he'd ever come to his senses. Oh, my beautiful cousin -- whatever else he was, he was quite mad." Her face betrayed more than a hint of her own madness as turned her attentions to Fleur. "L'amour des loup-garou est mort. Soon, you too will have the honour of knowing your husband, amoureux des sangs de boue, has been destroyed utterly for his treason." She shrugged dismissively at Fleur's gasp. "The Weasleys should have known how they would be repaid for their tolerance of such filth."

"Now Bellatrix," came a silky voice out of the shadows, causing the woman to turn around quickly, wand out for defence. "Have you so little to do in the service of the Dark Lord that you must waste your time tormenting the prisoners?"

Angered, Bellatrix kept her wand raised. "What are you doing here, Snape?"

"I was sent to keep watch," Severus Snape spoke calmly. His gaze flicked mildly over Remus Lupin, who huddled pale and trembling in the corner, and then he studied Fleur Delacour-Weasley, who seemed to be in shock and had crumpled onto the cold stone floor. "You've been summoned to a meeting."

"And you're too insignificant to warrant an invitation?" Bellatrix questioned, pleased. "So, the Dark Lord agrees with my suspicions. He no longer trusts you among his inner circle. The day will come, Severus - mark this! The day will come when you rot in one of these cages, among these blood traitors and half-breeds. I think your time grows short."

Unperturbed, Severus shrugged carelessly. "The meeting is not with the Dark Lord, whom, if you were a trusted member of his service, you would have been told is in Slovakia, stirring up support for our cause. No, it is Avery who wants you. You've been given a task to do." Before Bellatrix had time to look smug regarding her special appointment, Severus smiled coldly. "You are to join Pettigrew, whose job is to procure a certain item of interest to our leader."

"Pet -- Pettigrew?" thundered Bellatrix, as Remus, in his cell, lifted his head warily. "That rat? I'll not be reduced to a petty thief, paired with the Dark Lord's clumsiest servant!"

"They are Avery's orders, not mine," Severus responded airily. "And you ought to move along, Bellatrix. He will grow cross at the delay."

Unmoved, she hissed him. "I should have been put in charge! I'm the Dark Lord's most loyal follower. He trusts me the most!"

Calmly, Severus smiled. "Apparently not as much as you've been led to believe. Now, then, will you go, or must I inform Avery that you are questioning your standing in the service of the Dark Lord?"

Not bothering to reply, Bellatrix shoved him gruffly out of the way and stormed off. The sound of her footsteps echoed back for a few moments, but finally, it was quiet.

"You're hurt?"

"Not too badly," Remus muttered softly, gingerly touching his face, which he knew had to be bruised. They had used the Cruciatus on him, but only for a moment; there was nothing for him to confess to, no deep secrets stored behind his mild yellow eyes. Strangely, it had been Bellatrix who had demanded he be kept alive. Although he had assumed she wanted him to live only so she could have the pleasure of torturing him, thus far she had done nothing more than taunt him with the fact of Sirius' death, and occasionally strike him when her mood suited. Not wanting to admit any weakness in front of Severus, Remus met his gaze coolly. "There is no pain."

Severus did not seem interested in torture either. On the contrary, he sat down on the bench across from the bars, and withdrew from his pockets some bread and cheese wrapped in a handkerchief. "Eat something," he advised, passing it through the bars to Remus. "It isn't poisoned, I assure you. No, don't give her any," he interrupted as Remus attempted to shake Fleur into consciousness so she could eat. "You're the one who will need the strength."

"She needs it just as much as I do," Remus protested, refusing to ask why.

"No." Shaking his head, Severus drew a tight breath. "She'll be dead this time tomorrow. A particularly gruesome death, as well -- they plan to give her to Yaxley as a token. He requested her specifically. He's particularly taken with her, or so it seems."

The food in his mouth turned to ash, and Remus set the rest of the bread down, nausea welling up inside him. "Is it -- both of us?"

"Not you. Not yet." Severus sighed. "Greyback requested a match, a duel of sorts, between werewolves. He wishes to prove not only his loyalty, but his superior strength and skill." Evenly, Severus looked Remus over, remembering that terrifying night when he had at last stumbled on the truth of Remus' dark secret. Left longing for the boyhood innocence that had allowed him to be frightened of red eyes in a dark tunnel and the sound of canine baying beneath the risen moon, he clutched spasmodically at his robes. "You'll likely be spared until the Dark Lord returns. The bloodlust here has been temporarily satiated -- her husband," he added, indicating Fleur. "He wasn't a full werewolf, he didn't transform; he didn't have a chance. All I can say is that it was reasonably quick."

Horrified, Remus shivered, backing away from the bars as if afraid that Severus might advance right into the cage. "I -- Bill Weasley?"

"Yes."

"And the others?"

Severus' black eyes betrayed a depth of emotion Remus had scarcely seen before. "What others?"

"Oh..." Remus began, his knees giving way and spilling him onto the ground. He made no move to rise. "Why are you telling me this, Severus?"

There was no other answer, and Severus made no pretence. He thought of his turbulent boyhood at Hogwarts, how rising high points such as his friendship with Lily was ruined by the mental and occasional physical torture administered by James Potter and Sirius Black. Lupin, as Severus had always thought of him, staunchly refusing to use first names, had been a part of that little knot of malicious Gryffindors, yet he had never seemed to take pleasure in Severus' torment. Several times, he had even made half-hearted attempts to stop his friends in their cruelty, though almost never with any success. Thinking of those long conversations with Dumbledore, when he had promised to do his duty and remain a spy, Severus frowned, meeting the other man's gaze. "Because you have to know. You need to be aware of the dangers you face here, from them."

"From you, you mean," Remus spat.

"No, not from me." Weary, Severus bowed his head. "There is precious little in my past which I can claim to be proud of, but at the very least, I can honestly state that I'm not a loyalist. I haven't been, since the moment they threatened Lily Evans' life."

If Severus expected a sombre nod or a look of reprieve on Remus' face, he was sorely disappointed. Remus' eyes shone golden and malicious. "You filthy liar! Don't you dare speak her name -- don't you dare!" He seemed to have forgotten he was without a wand as he clutched the bars of his cell, spoiling for a fight. "I know what you are. Have the courage to kill me, Severus, and admit to it outright, but don't expect to win my sympathy with your pathetic tale."

"I loved her," Severus stated, quite shocked.

"Like hell you did. You broke her heart, I'll have you know -- do you really think she would have ended up with James any other way? She loved you, and you abandoned her to join up with Voldemort! You stood by and let her be brutally murdered --"

"No!"

"-- and now you dare claim you aren't part of it?" Crazed, Remus glared mightily. "You, holding that wand in your hand, are in charge of who lives and who dies for the moment! You're claiming not to be a part?"

The wand clattered to the floor as Severus trembled, shaking beneath the judgement of Remus' ferocity. He had never thought one of those Gryffindors would have an opinion that mattered to him, but he found himself unable to meet the ferocious face of the mild man who had been Lily Evans' other best friend.

"I didn't mean --"

"Then what?" bellowed Remus. He grasped the metal bars of his cage, holding them for support.

"I tried to stop them," Severus whispered hoarsely. "I begged Voldemort not to kill her. I went to Dumbledore...I told him everything." Raising his head, he pleaded for forgiveness. "He asked me to spy, to fetch information for the Order. I've done this willingly ever since, though admittedly not without bearing a terrible regret that I didn't make the choice earlier."

Remus shook his head, his anger dissolving as he brooded. "You did nothing for her. Lily Evans is dead."

Anguished, Severus drew a deep breath, hating the tension working through his body. "I'll do what I can to help you escape," he spoke softly, changing the subject. "I make you no promises --"

"Of course not."

"But I will try. If there's a chance that I can help you, I'll take it."

Drawn back into the reality of the present, Remus looked at the other man imploringly. "Help my wife and son, then, Severus, if you're truly sincere about your position. Help Tonks and Teddy escape."

The twitch of Severus' jaw was all Remus needed to read the truth, but Severus spoke it anyway. "Your wife was killed two hours ago. The boy was spared, in a fashion," he added hastily as Remus' horrified eyes met his own. "Fenrir Greyback requested that he be given the boy, to raise, as a 'cub'...he intends to train him as a fighter."

Unable to comprehend what was being said, Remus shook his head. "No -- no -- my son's not a werewolf. He's not like me!" The precious memory of Teddy's birth made him ache as he remembered it, but he could not forget the relief he had felt when the Healers had determined that his son was a Metamorphmagus, without a trace of werewolf within him. Steeling himself so not to think of Nymphadora's proud, beaming face, he clutched at his hair, looking deranged. "Teddy's not a wolf!"

"They already know that, Lupin. Greyback bit him, shortly before Nymphadora was murdered. He'll turn, on the next full moon, if he heals from the wounds that were inflicted." Frustrated that he had nothing better to comfort the other man with, Severus tried to appear calm as he considered the damage that had been done to the boy. Greyback had fallen on him with particular savagery. Not willing to tell Remus just how badly the boy had been bitten, he attempted to look reassuring. "I think he will."

"No!" The anguished cry roused Fleur from her semi-dose, but Remus did not notice. "No, they can't. They couldn't have! Not Teddy!"

"I'm sorry," came the words from Severus' mouth, sounding awkward in his voice. He waited for a moment, watching as Remus laid face down upon the stones and cried, and then he turned, slinking back into the darkness, already closing his mind against the probe of Legilimency he knew would be forthcoming.

...

Commentaire, svp! :)


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